Author Topic: Black/White biased racism on the server.  (Read 587 times)

Noa

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Black/White biased racism on the server.
« on: December 28, 2023, 06:57:45 AM »
To this day, no one could explain to me why Drow and half-Drow are KOS aside from 'they are black, and that's why they are feared.' By lore and logic, Drow would not be known in the setting to the average inhabitant, as there are so many races brought in - they would be, to the inhabitants, no different than other dark-skinned elves. And there are other races with 'odd' , unhuman, skin colors, only the BLACK is a problem. Only those who were brought in from the same realms would know of it. As such, the biases about 'Drow are bad; they will eat my children' are clearly taken from the Catholic/colonial culture that has created such images of angels and demons and associated black skin with it.

At this point, these reactions are nothing more than real-life racism.

I am writing anonymously, as always with this topic. There will be a majority who plays this down and pulls out the 'Cancel Culture' card.

Gilles de Rai

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Re: Black/White biased racism on the server.
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2023, 07:08:58 AM »
You gotta remember that this server exists for over 20 years, it wouldn't be surprising to simply think that Garda heard stories from other outlanders that were in good standing with them that those particular "Feys" are connected to evil god and are widely known to be feared throughout their homelands before they were misted. Not to mention that Drow's are usually openly speaking about violence. That's one of the reasonings you could use for drows to be outcasted, not to mention their religion which is connected to Lolth. I don't know if I'm correct but Garda only respects Ezrites from the religious folk? And thinks that outlander gods are inherently evil, wrong and don't exist.

As a side note it's a dark fantasy server, racism was always there in those kind of settings as well as dark fantasy books. You have to remember that even if someone on the server RP's racist, it doesn't mean he's racist IRL. It's all part of the show and game rather than personal believes. I doubt Garda would punish people IRL for breaking a curfew by breaking bones and such, it's part of the image and giving life of the setting. Hate and racism towards Drows has it's reasons, and being outcasted is quite a big thing on the server. I personally really enjoy the outcast life and will make a drow in the future, I do hope I'll suffer from racism and everything in that particular character as it's all part of the race and game you want to play. I do not try to say that your views are wrong, but I think that connecting IRL issues with racism, sexism and other things of that matter to a game in dark fantasy setting is not the best approach if you want to have fun.

I hope that answered your worries and question! Have a great day fam.

NacreCicatrix

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Re: Black/White biased racism on the server.
« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2023, 07:12:28 AM »
So, a couple of things.

Drow are known of in Vallaki due to a massacre some of their kind perpetrated at the Blue Water Inn several years ago. Most Barovians cannot read or write, so knowledge of this event is likely passed down by oral tradition.
Player inhabitants of the setting are often outlanders from FR, so they also may know of drow.
My PCs (homebrew) do not know how to recognise drow because they did not exist in the setting.

I've never heard of anyone referring to the 'black skin' as a reason for them being treated as hostile entities. More often, people recount stories of raids and other atrocities committed by their kind. Or just their general inclination towards evil. Guess you've encountered some woefully misinformed people.
To my characters, they have been described as having black or grey skin (+ sharp teeth, red eyes, horrible pointed faces). A long-term PC of mine was even mistaken for one quite regularly in spite of having brown skin.
I've seen PCs with 'odd' and unhuman skin colors being hassled by PC guards, and even aasimar forbidden from entering the town walls. Unfortunately, the OCR system doesn't account for which skin # you choose independent of your character's race. It is what it is.

Drow are not 'KOS', either (except for some NPCs). PCs are expected to engage in roleplay before any PvP occurs.
Na'vel auris ireth la leitra vourin!

Noa

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Re: Black/White biased racism on the server.
« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2023, 07:15:27 AM »
Exactly the NPCs are the point and topic. As they are hardcoded into the server and setup.
Also, fantasy racism is one thing, bringing in RL racism into every day is something else. This is not a private server, its played by public.
And again, no one of you could tell why drow are outcast by npc standards. If what you wrote applied to all races, then there would be alot more outcasted.
« Last Edit: December 28, 2023, 07:18:58 AM by Noa »

Agony

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Re: Black/White biased racism on the server.
« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2023, 07:16:19 AM »
To keep it brief:

There are a handful of events that were pretty significant where drow killed locals in both Barovia and Dementlieu in a very horrific and public way. Beyond that, there are shadow fey in Ravenloft that are very like drow in appearance and just as scary and known as drow are in places like Faerun. While locals may not know drow, they will likely assume shadow fey with the same net result.


NacreCicatrix

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Re: Black/White biased racism on the server.
« Reply #5 on: December 28, 2023, 07:20:10 AM »
Exactly the NPCs are the point and topic.

Ah, okay. You may want to clarify that in your original post, because it sounded as though you were referring to player characters (or players?).
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Noa

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Re: Black/White biased racism on the server.
« Reply #6 on: December 28, 2023, 07:21:45 AM »
Shadowfey look more like moon elves in what i saw for most part.

bloodless

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Re: Black/White biased racism on the server.
« Reply #7 on: December 28, 2023, 07:29:06 AM »
Drow have caliban ocr, same as in pnp. They are also explicitly known to the setting as they used to be part of it before being replaced by the fey of Arak, again like half-orcs were replaced by caliban. In short, no it's not real life racism.

Next time when you have genuine questions regarding the setting and server, post them without insinuations and you won't have to make incognito accounts. As this thread has now been exhaustively answered and I can see it leading nowhere good if left on its own, I'm closing it.
« Last Edit: December 28, 2023, 07:30:50 AM by bloodless »